Lehman tennis aims for CUNYAC finals return

Posted
Friday, July 14, 2017 12:01 am

Ana Belzunce turned the Lehman women’s tennis program from ordinary to extraordinary in her first season as head coach last year. The Lightning set a school record for wins and reached the CUNYAC championship for the first time.

Courtesy of Lehman College

By Sean Brennan

In her first season as head coach last year, Ana Belzunce transformed Lehman College women’s tennis from a middling program to one to be reckoned with in the City University of New York Athletic Conference.

Belzunce led the Lightning to a program-record 14 victories, including a 13-game win streak, as Lehman advanced to the CUNYAC championship game for the first time in school history. After dropping the title tilt to Baruch last fall, Belzunce told The Riverdale Press, she thought Lehman “has the potential to have a very good tennis program. I think we’re going to keep it going here.”

Belzunce looks to keep things going for her program and begin its chase for that elusive CUNYAC title Sept. 1 when the Lightning open the 2018 season with a road game at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville at 5 p.m. Lehman’s home opener will come five days later when it hosts St. Joseph’s-Brooklyn at 5 p.m.

The match with St. Joseph’s is the first of three straight home games for the Lightning, who also will host Baruch on Sept. 9 at noon in a rematch of the CUNYAC title game before taking on St. Joseph’s-Long Island on Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m.

In all, Lehman will play eight home contests on the season, including matches against Drew University on Sept. 16 at noon, Bard College on Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m., Brooklyn College on Sept. 25 at 3:30 p.m., Hunter College on Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m., and Rutgers-Newark on Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.

Meet the Met

Former Mets pitcher Bobby Ojeda, part of the 1986 world championship team, will appear at Dan Rooney’s Sports Bar at Empire City Casino on Sunday, July 16.

Fans can meet Ojeda while the Mets take on the Colorado Rockies in a 1:10 p.m., game at Citi Field, which they can watch from the casino.

Ojeda will be on hand beginning at noon, available for photos with fans.

Making a splash

Manhattan College has a Gopher in its pool.

Molly Belk, a former standout swimmer with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, has been named as the Jaspers’ new head coach for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. Belk, a 2011 Minnesota graduate, enjoyed a stellar career in the pool as she qualified for the Olympic trials in both 2008 and 2012, and represented the Gophers in three NCAA championship meets.

Since graduating, Belk has honed her coaching skills as a volunteer assistant at Minnesota during the 2011-12 season as she helped the Gophers capture the Big Ten championship and a top-15 finish at the NCAA championship.

Belk has spent the past two years as the lead coach at Asphalt Green Aquatics in Manhattan.

Have a look up the narrow pathway connecting Arlington Avenue and Kappock Street in Spuyten Duyvil and one might see a steep trail of hideous, uneven pavement snaking between warped side rails bent out of shape. It’s like something out of a Gothic fairy tale.